Hon. Arthur J. Gajarsa (Ret.)

The Honorable Arthur J. Gajarsa has had a long and distinguished career in the judiciary. He was nominated to the Federal Circuit in 1996 by President Bill Clinton, confirmed by the United States Senate in 1997 where he served for 15 years until his retirement in 2012. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Gajarsa was a well-recognized litigator who practiced corporate law, intellectual property, environmental law, securities law and general litigation with various law firms as a partner or principal officer in Washington D.C. His career also includes service at the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Department of Defense.

Judge Gajarsa has represented Native American tribal interests for whom he made several appearances before the United States Supreme Court. In 1987, he joined the firm of Joseph, Gajarsa, McDermott & Reiner, P.C., where he continued his international and corporate law interests, including an expansive representation of Native American tribal interests.

After graduation from law school, Judge Gajarsa served as a law clerk for the Honorable Joseph J. McGarraghy of the United States District Court in Washington DC. In 1968, he became an associate in the office of the General Counsel of Aetna Life & Casualty. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed special counsel to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior where he remained until 1971.

His experience on the bench and in private practice has given Judge Gajarsa a broad range of knowledge in numerous areas of the law related to antitrust, appellate, environmental, intellectual property and Native American matters. Judge Gajarsa’s ability to approach disputes fairly and in an unbiased manner makes him well-suited to the role of arbitrator and mediator and an excellent choice for both sides of the bar.

Judge Gajarsa has received numerous awards over the years that include the Jefferson Medal of New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association for extraordinary contributions to the field of intellectual property law; the Outstanding Public Service Award in recognition of his lifetime pursuit for the administration of justice presented by the New York Intellectual Property Law Association; the Eli Whitney Award from the Connecticut Intellectual Property Law Association for his outstanding contributions to law; and the John F. Kennedy award for his work with Native Americans. He was also recognized as a National Merit Scholar with the Bausch & Lomb Medal, along with the City of Boston Benjamin Franklin Award. He also received numerous awards from Georgetown University including an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree.

Since 1994, Judge Arthur Gajarsa has served on the Board of Trustees of Rensselaer, his alma mater, serving from 1998–2010 as vice chair and since 2011 as Chairman of the Board. In 2002, he was appointed to serve as a member of the International Relations Committee of the Judicial Conference by the Chief Justice of the United States. As a member of this Committee, Judge Gajarsa continued to pursue his interest in programs for the Rule of Law and participated in numerous international judicial
education programs.

He was elected to the Board of Directors of Supreme Industries, a public corporation, in 2012. He has been a member of the Georgetown University Board of Regents and the Board of Directors of Georgetown University, where he chaired the Law and Audit Committees and was a member of its Executive Committee. He also taught a course in Constitutional Law as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center from 2000 – 2011. He is now the jurist in residence at the University of New Hampshire Law School, teaching courses in Intellectual Property and Constitutional Law. The American Inn of Court at the University of New Hampshire has been named in his honor as The Arthur J. Gajarsa American Inn of Court. Judge Arthur Gajarsa was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law Degree from the University of New Hampshire in 2013.

He has been active throughout his career serving on many nonprofit boards, including the American University of Rome, the Institute of Contemporary Culture, the Foundation for Improving Understanding of the Arts, the John Carroll Society, the Rensselaer Newman Foundation and Outward Bound, USA. Due to his active participation in international affairs and his activities with the Italian American community, including his participation as one of the founders of the National Italian American Foundation, Judge Gajarsa served as its General Counsel and President, as well as its Vice Chairman. In 2010, he was honored by the Republic of Italy with the Order of Commendatore for his extensive efforts to improve relations between the United States and Italy and was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Sons of Italy Educational Foundation.

Judge Gajarasa is available to arbitrate and mediate cases throughout the United States.